No One is an Island
Meditation on Psalm 17:1-7, 15 by Ray Ball
In our meditations for this month we explore the idea of freedom. Americans are great ones to care about our freedoms, but freedom isn’t the freedom to choose whatever one wants to do irrespective of the effects on those around us.
We are all part of a whole, a community, and we cannot operate in life as if we were totally alone. John Donne, the famous English poet and Anglican priest (he was dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London), reminds us that “no [one] is an island,” and that when the death bell tolls “ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” St. Augustine of Hippo reminds us that we exercise our freedom most when we rebel against God, and that it is only with God’s grace that we can do anything to please God!
Freedom is the freedom to do what is right because it is right, without thought of our own reward and without thought of the cost to ourselves. This is the heart of Christian virtue and marks the lives of the martyrs of the early church.
The Psalmist reminds us that we are speaking to God about our virtue and honesty (vs. 1), and that God’s eyes are fixed on what is right (vs. 2). We walk in the path of God when we seek righteousness, i.e., the heart of God, when we seek and hear the words that God speaks to bring us to the “beloved community” (vss. 3-5). This is what the Beatitudes calls “purity of heart,” and is lived through the seeking of justice AND mercy for all. I’ve often quipped that we beg for mercy for ourselves and justice for everybody else, but there is more truth to this than we like to admit. We know the heart of God is near us when we can pray and work for the good of all, even our enemies – especially for our enemies!
The Psalm ends by reminding us that we serve God because we love God and not for any reward other than seeing God’s face. Mother Teresa reminds us that the greatest gift we can have in this life is the joy of seeing the face of God in the face of everyone we meet.
The Sufis remind us of a prayer:
“God, if I seek you to receive rewards, do not give them to me. If I seek you out of fear of going to hell, send me to hell. But if I serve you for the love of you, that will be enough.”
Freedom is the gift God gives all of us to seek to serve God for the love of God, and for the love of our neighbor. Wearing a mask; seeking understanding of the pain racism causes our neighbor; refusing to accept privilege offered us because we are white, or male, or wealthy; standing against tyranny and hatred with deliberate non-violent non-cooperation – these are the ways of Jesus. Freedom isn’t freedom if we do not take responsibility to do what is right.
LIsten to Rev. Dr. Lil Smith's Guided Meditation for Praying the Lectionary for Psalm 17:1-7, 15.
Ray Ball is a trained spiritual director and covenant parter at Retreat House. He has served in many different roles - as Anglican priest, chaplain, pastor and other signficant Christian leadership positions. You can contact him here.